Monday’s Women’s Basketball Results
MAC-SBC Challenge: MAC 8, SBC 4
Northern Illinois 57, Louisiana 55
Akron 81, Georgia State 73
Buffalo 80, Troy 78
Toledo 71, Marshall 68
Western Michigan 61, Arkansas State 52
Ball State 60, Old Dominion 46
Miami 75, App State 48
Bowling Green 71, Southern Miss 67
Coastal Carolina 65, Central Michigan 62
Texas State 75, Eastern Michigan 71
James Madison 67, Kent State 56
Georgia Southern 82, Ohio 70
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Northern Illinois 57, Louisiana 55
Box Score
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team held the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns scoreless for the final 8:37 of Monday's season opener at the NIU Convocation Center, rallying for a 57-55 win on Education Day.
"I was really proud of our ability to stick together," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Monday's exciting win. "The game was physical and tough and wasn't pretty at times. This is a group that has played a lot of minutes and understands what we are trying to accomplish. They had to go through that. We did enough to win, we made critical plays in critical situations."
NIU (1-0) trailed by as much as 11 late in the third quarter before junior transfers Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) and Reagan Barkema (Story City, Iowa/Bradley) combined to go on a 6-2 run that cut the deficit to seven, 51-44, going into the fourth. The Ragin' Cajuns got the lead back to nine with 8:37 to go on a pair of Kamryn Jones' baskets, taking a 55-46 advantage but that would be Louisiana's last points of the game.
The Huskies put the clamps down defensively from there, holding Louisiana to an 0-for-12 from the field the rest of the way. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran), in her first game after missing the entire 2023-24 season due to injury, made back-to-back threes to get NIU within three, 55-52, at the 5:30 mark. Barkema then knocked down her third three-pointer of the game with 2:49 to go to tie the game at 55 off Koker's ninth assist of the game. Koker finished the game leading all scorers with 18 points, adding nine rebounds and nine assists.
Akron 81, Georgia State 73
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team went into the half trailing Georgia State, 42-34, but fought back from the deficit to defeat the Panthers, 81-73, at James A. Rhodes Arena on Monday (Nov. 4) as part of the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Conference Challenge.
The Zips had four players score in double figures, led by junior Kam'Ren Rhodes (Chandler, Ariz.), who had 25 points and five assists. Junior Maddie Vejsicky (New Concord, Ohio) added 14 points and senior Alexus Mobley (Indianapolis, Ind.) chipped in as well with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Akron grabbed 47 rebounds in Monday's game compared to Georgia State's 36, led by 11 boards from redshirt senior Shelbee Brown (Memphis, Tenn.). The Zips also cleaned up the offensive glass, turning 14 rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
The Akron defense held Georgia State shooters to just 36.1 percent from the field.
How It Happened
Akron struggled out of the gate, falling behind 25-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Georgia State kept adding to that lead, building a 28-14 advantage before Akron went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a bucket from Rhodes, to narrow its deficit to 28-22. Georgia State responded and expanded its lead, leaving the Zips trailing 42-34 at halftime.
Akron came out of halftime on fire, going on a 14-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Brown, to grab a 48-42 lead with 3:34 to go in the third. Before the third period was over, the Zips added two points to that lead and entered the fourth quarter with a 57-49 edge. Akron took advantage of five Georgia State turnovers in the quarter, scoring seven points off of takeaways.
Akron kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 73-64 with 2:32 to go in the contest. The Panthers narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Zips still cruised the rest of the way for the 81-73 win. Akron got a boost from its bench in the period, with non-starters scoring nine of its 24 total points.
Buffalo 80, Troy 78
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – In a heavyweight battle between two teams picked in the top three in their respective conference's preseason polls, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team defeated Troy 80-78 in the regular season opener at Alumni Arena on Monday night.
Four Bulls scored in double figures, led by fifth year guard Chellia Watson who recorded a double-double with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Kirsten Lewis-Williams scored 15 points while Terah Harness and Alexis Davis added 10 points each.
The Trojans opened the game on a 9-0 on a trio of triples before Lewis-Williams hit a three of her own to spark a 5-0 run, but Troy would maintain an 11-5 lead at the first media timeout. Watson went on a mini 4-0 run by herself, before Paula Lopez hit Harness for a beautiful fastbreak layup to tie the game at 14. Later, Harness continued to heat up as she drilled a three before Lopez got a floater to drop in the final seconds as the Bulls made five-of-six field goals to close the quarter on a 24-9 run and take a 24-18 lead at the end of the first.
Lewis-Williams continued to attack with a pair of layups to start the quarter before Noelani Cornfield and Watson converted on a pair of mid-range jumpers, the latter an and-one bucket, to put UB up by eight and they would lead 36-27 at the media timeout. The Bulls would then get to the free throw line at will, as they went 11-of-16 from the charity stripe in the quarter, but the Trojans were just as aggressive as they closed the quarter on an 8-1 run over the final 90 seconds to take a 48-46 lead at the half.
The Bulls turned defense into offense to start the third quarter, as they used a 12-3 run, including three straight transition layups by Lewis-Williams, Cornfield and Watson, to retake the lead, 58-51, and force a Troy timeout at the 7:40 mark. Buffalo continued to attack as they used a 7-0 run, capped by a three from Watson and a steal and score by Harness, to take a 65-56 lead, but the Trojans answered with an and-one bucket to cut the lead to seven at the media timeout. The teams then traded possessions before Troy converted a layup plus the foul to cut the lead to four at the end of the third.
The Bulls executed a beautiful set to begin the fourth quarter as Harness hit Ariana Seawell on the baseline and she finished off glass for a reverse layup and then the Bulls continued to get to the free throw line as they maintained a 75-69 lead at the final media timeout. It was then a defensive battle as neither team recorded a field goal for three-plus minutes before Cornfield drove and kicked to Watson who knocked down a three in the corner to put UB up 79-72 with three minutes remaining. The Trojans cut the lead to two with 43 seconds to go but that would be as close as they would get as the Bulls came up with two big defensive stops to seal the victory.
Buffalo held their own on the glass and in the paint against the nation's leading rebounders from a season ago while also turning defense into offense as they scored 25 fastbreak points and turned 11 Troy miscues into 15 points at the other end. The Bulls also found success at the charity stripe, going 27-for-38 on the night.
Toledo 71, Marshall 68
Box Score
Postgame recap coming soon.
Western Michigan 61, Arkansas State 52
Box Score
Postgame recap coming soon.
Ball State 60, Old Dominion 46
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team (1-0) opened the 2024-25 season with a 60-46 victory over Old Dominion (0-1) Monday night in Worthen Arena. The contest was the first of two Mid-American Conference/Sun Belt Conference Challenges that will happen this season.
"I always love learning from wins more than anything," Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said. "I want to start off by talking about the crowd tonight. It is a credit to our players for help building this atmosphere, so I am thankful for the turnout."
Sallee also commented on the physicality of tonight's contest which the Cardinals were able to capitalize on by outscoring the Monarchs 38-24 in the paint.
Ball State placed four players in double-digit scoring with Ally Becki leading the team with 13 while both Alex Richard and Lachelle Austin each tallied 11 points apiece. Rounding out the double figure scoring was Elise Stuck with 10.
Defensively, Marie Kiefer pulled down 11 rebounds while registering four blocks. Kiefer just needs nine more blocks to become the Ball State women's basketball programs' all-time leader in that category.
Despite some new faces on the court, the Cardinals picked up right where they left off by opening the contest with an 8-0 run over the Monarchs. Defensively, Old Dominion went scoreless up until the 5:13 mark. ODU's cold feet finally started to warmup with just two minutes remaining in the first stanza to make it a 13-12 ball game. A Becki bucket kept Ball State in the lead 16-12 to end the frame.
Old Dominion kept the contest close in the second period only trailing Ball State by one (20-19) at the 6:34 mark.
After that, the Cardinals put together a 19-4 scoring spree to close out the first half which was capped off by layups from Austin, Zuri Ransom and Becki. Ball State was able to take a 16-point (39-23) advantage over Old Dominion at intermission.
Following the break, Old Dominion started the third quarter with a lot of ball pressure which was to be expected. The Cardinals struggled offensively but Ransom knocked down one from behind the arc as time was winding down to help BSU end the third with a 51-38 cushion over the Monarchs.
Despite some ups and downs in the final quarter, Ball State was able to get some good looks under the basket which entail helped seal tonight's victory.
The Ball State women's basketball team remains at home Friday against IU Indy for a 7 pm ET tipoff or 30 minutes follow the Ball State men's basketball contest versus Franklin College which begins at 5 pm ET in Worthen Arena.
Miami 75, App State 48
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Three RedHawks scored in double figures as the Miami University women's basketball team defeated Appalachian State University 75-48 on Monday evening to begin the 2024-25 season.
Amber Tretter led the way with 13 points and was followed by Enjulina Gonzalez (12 points) and Ilse de Vries (10 points). Maya Chandler was tops on the team with six assists, while Tretter had a game-high nine rebounds.
How it Happened:
- Enjulina Gonzalez opened the scoring with a layup between multiple defenders and moments later Tretter knocked in a triple from atop the key for an early 5-0 Miami advantage. After ASU's put-back basket, Núria Jurjo scored five-straight points for a 10-2 Miami lead midway through the opening quarter. Miami outscored the Mountaineers 13-2 in the final 4:20 to lead 23-4.
- Tretter scored Miami's first five points of the second quarter and a Katey Richason jumper made it 30-8, forcing an ASU timeout. The Mountaineers finished the quarter on a 14-4 run, cutting Miami's halftime advantage, 34-22.
- With Miami maintaining a 12-point advantage early in the third, Tretter, Chandler, Enjulina Gonzalez, and Lakresha Edwards combined for 16 points in just over four minutes of action for a 54-26 lead. Back-to-back Tamar Singer and de Vries layups capped Miami's 20-0 run, handing Miami its largest lead of the evening, 58-26. Miami led 63-31 entering the final stanza.
- ASU outscored Miami 17-12 in the final quarter.
Bowling Green 71, Southern Miss 67
Box Score
Postgame story coming soon.
